Student Awards
Funds for FINS awards are provided by the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and supplemented by fundraising events. Fundraising revenue comes from merchandise sales including the sale of the salmon poster created by artist David Ehlert.
The salmon poster fundraiser has been possible due to the incredible service and donation of Professor Tom Quinn, David Ehlert, graduate students, Jodie Little, Danielle Mitchell, and Donna Hauser, and several other students of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
Uses of Funding
This money is provided to cover a variety of school-related expenses. Approved uses of awards include travel costs and registration fees for professional conferences, virtual conference registration fees, defrayment of publishing and open access costs, smaller costs like poster printing or ergonomic work from home upgrades, and other costs associated with sharing research. Memberships to professional societies are not eligible for reimbursement as travel expenses unless required to attend a conference. Memberships can be reimbursed as non-travel expenses if the student can provide a written document stating that there is a UW business purpose AND if the membership clearly benefits the University. Students should follow the application procedures described below.
Application Process
FINS will offer awards to matriculating SAFS graduate students each quarter when funds are available. Demonstration of service to the FINS or SAFS community is required to be eligible for an award. Refer to the application form for complete details of requirements. At the end of the quarter, FINS officers will announce the availability of awards for the following quarter. To apply for an award, SAFS graduate students should submit a completed application to the FINS treasurer(s) via email. All applications received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated according to the criteria described below. Any remaining grants after this initial deadline will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis.
FINS officers will review applications, and students will be notified of funding decisions by email within the first week of the quarter. Students are only allowed to receive funding during the quarter in which the funds will be spent; funds will not be awarded retrospectively. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Criteria for Funding
Currently enrolled, matriculating SAFS and SAFS-affiliated graduate students who have demonstrated service to the FINS and/or SAFS community are eligible to receive awards. The total amount of quarterly funding available for FINS awards will be announced in the email calling for applications, and the amount of individual awards depends on student needs. Funding is contingent upon the quality/completeness of the application, and the number of students who have applied for awards.
The goal of this process is to provide funding to as many SAFS grads as possible, resulting in more smaller awards rather than fewer larger awards. There is no limit to the amount of funding that applicants can request and there is no penalty for requesting larger amounts. Funds will be allocated between applications received before the application deadlines according to the following process (subject to change following FINS approval):
- If the total amount requested across all applications is greater than the funding available, applicants who have already received a FINS award during the same academic year (Autumn – Summer) will be removed from consideration. Eligibility is reset each Autumn quarter. Applicants who have not demonstrated service to the community/department will also be removed at this stage.
- The total available funding is then divided by the number of remaining applications to create a preliminary award value. When an eligible applicant has requested an award amount less than the preliminary award value, a full award will be granted to the applicant.
- The total available funding minus the amounts awarded in the previous step is then divided between the number of remaining eligible applicants, as partial awards.
Receiving Funds
Students who are notified that they have been awarded funding should contact the FINS treasurer for details concerning reimbursement of costs.
FINS Award Recipients
Summer 2023: Emily Jameson, Grace Henry, Jezella Peraza, Zoe Rand, Kelly Neal, Chris Setzke
Spring 2023: Arial Brewer, Zachary Bengtsson, Jessica Diallo, Shelley Johnson, Miranda Roethler, Kali Stone, Ashley Townes
Winter 2023: Juliette Jacquemont, Katie McElroy, Helena McMonagle, Jenny Stern, Sarah Teman, Marie Zahn
Fall 2022: Brielle Kwarta Thompson, Claire Vaage, Karl Veggerby, Rachel Fricke, Sarah Yerrace
Summer 2022: Anita Wray, Anne Polyakov, Cat Wagnen, Maria Kuruvilla, Shelley Johnson, Marta Gomex-Buckley, Zoe Rand, Brielle Kwarta Thompson, Jessica Diallo, Lee Qi
Spring 2022: Brielle Kwarta Thompson, Liz Elmstrom, Nicole Duran, Julia Indivero, Jezella Peraza, Corinne Klohman, Miranda Roethler
Read about the ways recent recipients used their FINS awards
Studying Cook Inlet beluga whales